Matt.6:5-15
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans (gentiles), for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,[a] but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
There are types of people who pray....wrong: Hypocrites and Gentiles (pagans)
(I have fallen in both categories)
Hypocrites: Pray to be praised. They pray aloud and for everyone to hear. They want people to see how amazingly righteous they are. Apparently in verse 5 they have received their reward and V.6 states that God will reward us for prayers. I struggle with being a hypocrite because that was one of my struggles before coming to God. I wanted to be acknowledged by people! What better praise than for someone to come to you and say "God's light just shines through you!" "You are such a good girl." Not only did I enjoy that praise but I enjoyed the pride it brought my parents. I wanted to please them. So I would almost plan out my prayers before I would "pray to God" so that others may enjoy my words. How selfish is that!
Gentiles/Pagans/actually even Christians do this: V7. Simple pointless repetitiveness. I dont think this is merely talking about repeating one phrase over and over again (yet people do that too). I think this is also talking about just yaking to God. Going down a laundry list of prayer requests. Just talking and not really putting much effort past verbalizing what you or others want. Leading a small group I use to do this. After we ask for prayer requests and I pray at the end I just read off the prayer requests to God. I try to personalize them but I feel them fall flat.
How God wants us to pray: Dissect the prayer given! He doesnt want us to repeat that prayer everyday! That would fall back to being like a pagan (i really want to find a better word for that category....) Dissect it! "Our Father who art in heaven," This reminds me of a past sermon I heard on Adoption. We are God's children when we accept God as our lord and savior! We get to call Him Father, daddy, papa! He WANTS us to! What love from Him that He allows us to call Him father instead of "Oh mighty king that reigns over my life..." or something extravagant like that... What love we can show Him when we call Him our father!
What does father mean to you? For me, the word/ name father reminds me of words like: loving, deserves respect, cares for my needs and wants, my leader in life decisions, provider. I have been very blessed because my father, a strong Christian man, has exemplified every characteristic of God my heavenly father. I am blessed and thankful for such a man in my life.
Thought Blub! Reflecting on this has made me realize how much my daddy has been a God-like and spiritual leader throughout my life. I want to thank him for this. No one can coincidentally be a mirror of God. I assume my dad spent countless hours praying and seeking wisdom on how to be the earthly father God wanted him to be. I want to now show him my gratitude for that!
Second Part: "Hallowed be your name," WORSHIP!! :) Here it is a broad statement saying may your name be glorified! But how do we praise God's name? well who is God to you? what do first think of when you think of the word God? Be honest with yourself too. Take time to truly reflect. What first comes to mind about God probably relates to your past experiences. Are you angry? trying to find loving words to describe Him, or maybe there is a more powerful uplifting word that comes to mind. This is who God is to you. Granted if you hold an angry view of God maybe there is more to learn. How can you worship or talk to someone that only brings up feelings of hatred and sorrow? It's hard!! Try talking to an Ex-whatever right after they left you for someone else! Anyways Worship is key here! When thinking about who God is to me, Grace-giver came to mind, which led to generous because of Romans 11:5-6 It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel[c] have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them. 6 And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.
How much more meaningful is worship if we tell God how we really feel about the grace he has given us! How much more personal will our prayers be!
I hate to end and run BUT I gtg.... Class time! :) That was half of chapter 2 btw! You can get the book on PDF: http://www3.telus.net/trbrooks/PrayerMinistryoftheChurch.pdf
Idk who this will speak to but at least getting this out and reflecting some more on this brought up an idea I want to do. I am going to work on that card now! :) Adios my wonderful readers!
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